


why don't you know?

by emokags



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Childhood Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-20 01:32:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17612897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emokags/pseuds/emokags
Summary: When Barry was seven years old he met Oliver Queen.Almost fourteen years later he would encounter him again, just not in the way he'd been expecting.





	why don't you know?

**Author's Note:**

> just lettin y’all know that i’ve only seen 5 episodes of arrow and 20 episodes of the flash so uhhh google rlly helped me out a lot here when i was writing this. also i changed a bunch of stuff around so uh yeah. i also got the title from chungha's song why don't you know but that doesn't rlly relate to the story

When Barry was seven years old he met Oliver Queen, an eleven year old who moved into the house across from him. Barry’s parents had forced him to come along with them as they gave the Queens homemade cookies as a “Welcome to the Neighbourhood!” gift. 

It was Oliver who had answered the door and Barry was interested in him from them on. Oliver had been wearing a Pokemon t-shirt -- the same Pokemon t-shirt that Barry had been begging his parents to get him for ages. Barry was so shocked that Oliver had been wearing that t-shirt that before he knew it the door slammed shut and his parents were leading him back to their house.

“Mama he was wearing the shirt!” Barry exclaimed, pulling on his mother’s sleeve and bouncing up and down.

His mother chuckled at him and picked him up, “I know baby, I noticed it too.” 

\--

A week later Barry had run in Oliver again. He’d been drawing with chalk on the sidewalk when Oliver had walked up to him and asked him if he could draw with him. Barry enthusiastically nodded and patted the ground next to him, signaling for Oliver to sit there.

“What’s your name?” Barry asked, stopping drawing so that he could pay attention to his answer.

“Oliver. What about you?” 

“Barry.” Barry paused after answering to think of what his next question was going to be. Then he gasped and sat straight up, looking at Oliver with a twinkle in his eyes.

“Do you like Pokemon?” 

Oliver snorted, “Of course.” 

Barry gasped and immediately launched into a big rant about “So who do you think is the best pokemon? I think it’s pikachu but when I tell my mama that she sometimes says that I’m only saying that because he’s the main pokemon in the TV show, but I’m not! Pikachu is honestly the best but my dad told me that Mew is the best but I don’t know…” 

The entire time Oliver just listened intently with a small smile gracing his lips as Barry continued to ramble on about pokemon.

\--

From then on Oliver and Barry would become attached at the hip. Despite Oliver being four years older than Barry their friendship prospered and they continued to do everything together. 

If Oliver was playing soccer, Barry was playing with him. If Barry was going to the store with his parents, Oliver was walking next to Barry.

They even had a secret hideout in the woods near their houses where they would hang out when they had Super Serious Stuff to talk about (usually just discussing things like how they cheated on the math test, or if Leah had a crush on either of them). 

Oliver knew practically everything about Barry. His favourite colour was red, his favourite pokemon was Pikachu, he still had to sleep with his nightlight on, and when there’s a really bad storm going on his mom sings him a special song to help him calm down.

Barry knew almost nothing about Oliver. They had known each other for almost four years but Oliver still had an aura of mysteriousness around him. Of course Barry knew the simple stuff like how Oliver’s favourite food was sushi and such, but he knew almost nothing about Oliver’s family.

Oliver had a baby sister named Thea and a mom and a dad. That was the extent of Barry’s knowledge on Oliver’s family. Not once had he seen a grandma or a grandma, or even an aunt of uncle go over to Oliver’s house.

That never seemed to be too much of a problem until one night Oliver came over to Barry’s house with a purple mark on his neck.

The mark wasn’t that noticeable, it was a little small actually. But Barry had spent a lot of time with Oliver so that something like that small purple mark was something that he spotted pretty quickly.

“What’s that thing on your neck?” Barry bluntly asked Oliver.

Immediately Oliver’s hand went up to cover the spot were the mark sat. “Wha- What mark?” He stuttered as he unconvincingly feigned confusion.

Barry just simply pried away Oliver’s hand and pointed at the mark. “The mark right there.”

Oliver glanced around and tried to talk his way out of telling the truth. “Barry, I honestly don’t know what mark you’re talking about. If there’s actually a mark there then you’re probably just seeing things.”

Barry could do nothing but accept what Oliver had said as the truth. He wasn’t as naive and childish as he had been before (hanging out with Oliver had made him a bit more mature than the other kids in his grade) so he knew that there was something Oliver was hiding, but whatever it was Oliver wasn’t going to let him find out what it was.

That night when their playdate had ended and Oliver said goodbye to Barry and his parents, Barry decided to ask his parents if they noticed the purple mark on Oliver’s neck. After he mentioned it his parents sent him upstairs to work on his homework and began to whisper to each other.

Barry had tried eavesdrop on them from his hiding spot on the stairs, but he could only catch fragments of their conversation because of how quiet they were talking. Something about Oliver’s parents and violence if Barry was hearing them correctly.

Maybe Barry would’ve worried more about his playdate that day and the hushed conversation that followed, but other things distracted him from that.

\--

The next day was the day everything went to shit.

Barry had another playdate with Oliver. Oliver entered and the purple mark on his neck was still there, but this time there was a second mark that accompanied it. He tried to point it out again but Oliver turned to him and said in the scariest voice Barry had ever heard from him, “Shut up.”

The pair had played and talked and just chilled for about three hours when Barry’s mom entered the room and asked if she could talk to Oliver alone. Both boys looked at each other and tentatively nodded, so Barry was sent to stay with his dad downstairs.

A couple of minutes had passed and suddenly Oliver came bounding down the stairs with Barry’s mom in tow.

“I gotta go, see ya later,” Oliver said breathlessly and hugged Barry tighter than he ever had before running out the door and out into the street before Barry could even say, “Goodbye.”

Nothing exciting happened for the next few hours. The “going to shit” deal happened when Barry was safely tucked away in bed and drifting in and out of conscious. 

Rain had begun to fall and soon enough there was thunder and lightning, waking up Barry from his peaceful slumber. The storm was one of the worse ones and soon enough his eyes began to water. 

“Mama!” Barry cried out, thinking that his mother would soon be running into his room, ready to comfort him.

A few minutes passed with nothing happened and Barry called out again, this time just a little louder, “Mama!”

Again, nothing.

Instead of yelling out for a third time, Barry threw off his covers, hopped off his bed, and rushed to his parents bedroom. Surprisingly, the bed was completely empty.

“Mama?” He yelled out again as he crept down the stairs.

He was about to yell out for a fourth time when the scene he came across in his living room made him choke on his words. In the middle of the room was his mother, unconscious with blood splattered all over her, and off to the side was his dad, also unconscious but with much less blood on him.

Everything that happened afterwards was a blur. Barry remembers calling the police, being taken care of by an officer named Joe, and after a few days his dad being named as the murderer of his mother. 

The thing that Barry remembers the clearest is Oliver moving away barely even a day after his mother’s murder and seeing Oliver’s stony expression through the window of his car as the car drove further and further away, making Oliver and Barry further and further apart.

\--

Fourteen years later and Barry continued to wonder what happened to Oliver Queen.

Oliver was the only best friend Barry had ever had as a child. Iris didn’t count because she was his step-sister, and at school he was one of the outcasts. He had a few friends but he never became as close with any of them as he had with Oliver.

Obviously since it had been quite a few years since he last saw his childhood friend, Barry didn’t think about Oliver all the time. It was more like a thought that always seemed to hang around in the back of his mind. When he got thinking about his past then the thought of Oliver would come up to the front and he’d theorize on what happened to him.

Besides, Barry had more important things to worry about. For example, the fact that the Green Arrow was terrorizing and Central City and there was no one that was powerful enough to stop him except Barry himself. 

A lot had changed for Barry since he became a metahuman. He panicked over his newfound superpowers, found Harrison Wells, Cisco, and Caitlin who said that they could help him, and did, and then he somehow became Central City’s favourite superhero (and pretty much, only superhero).

Since becoming The Flash Barry hadn’t had to deal with anyone too serious, usually it was only a metahuman that was using their powers for bad and all he had to do to stop it was run really fast and outsmart them. After that everything was done and settled and all Barry would have to do was wait for the next troublesome metahuman to show up. Pretty simple.

The Green Arrow seemed to be on a mission to change all of that.

So far Barry has come across and fought with the Green Arrow seven times, and each time usually ended with Barry coming so close to defeating him and then the Green Arrow disappearing off into the night before Barry can completely defeat him.

It was pretty frustrating to say the least.

The worst part about the whole ordeal was that Cisco and Caitlin couldn’t even figure out what the Green Arrow’s powers were. The entire team was convinced that the Green Arrow was a metahuman, there was no way he wasn’t, but since they couldn’t actually figure out what exactly his powers were it was harder for them to come up with a plan to defeat him.

Also the articles about The Flash had officially declared the Green Arrow as The Flash’s archenemy and Barry couldn’t help but get annoyed at that. (The Green Arrow was not his archenemy! He was just an annoying villain that had gotten lucky a few too many times.)

\--

It was the eleventh time Barry encountered the Green Arrow when everything seemed to change.

He had been in his Flash getup when he spotted the Green Arrow going somewhere. So obviously, he stalked him. It was a little hard to track him because goddamn that man is so agile and quick on his feet, but after a while of following him Barry had gotten used to his pace.

Barry had been so focused on not losing track of the Green Arrow and also not exposing himself to him that he hadn’t even realized that he’d followed him all the way back to his old neighbourhood. He realized where he was when the Green Arrow entered the woods and headed straight for Oliver and Barry’s secret hideout.

When he realized that all emotion seemed to take over. Barry ran out in front of the Green Arrow and grabbed him, yelling in his face, “Why are you here!”

The answer he got was a punch in the face. 

Barry pressed for an answer again and got nothing but an arrow shot at him (which he caught, thank god). 

Usually Barry and the Green Arrow would’ve continued to fight for much longer but Barry was shaken up from the reminder of his childhood and tired from trailing the Green Arrow for so long, and it seemed like the Green Arrow was tired as well.

Both of them stopped and after a moment of silence (minus their panting as a result of them trying to catch their breath) Barry simply uttered, “I won’t forget about this,” before speeding away back to STAR Labs as fast as he could.

\--

The next time Barry encountered the Green Arrow was shortly after his eleventh time. 

It was night and Barry was trying to fall asleep when he felt a breeze sneak inside his room. He opened his eyes and screamed.

Or he would’ve screamed if it wasn’t for the hand that was covering his mouth. 

The Green Arrow had snuck into his room. The Green Arrow was currently muffling Barry’s voice. The Green Arrow fucking knew who Barry was! The Green Arrow had caught Barry while he wasn’t in his Flash uniform!

“Bartholomew Allen, I need you to come with me. I will explain everything when we get to our destination.” As the Green Arrow was speaking, he lifted up Barry and began to transport him out of his room through the window. Barry couldn’t help but notice how strong and comforting the Green Arrow’s arms were as they gripped his shivering body.

Luckily, based on how the Green Arrow spoke to him, he didn’t seem to know that Barry was The Flash. Which was good for him in some way because it would suck big time if a villain knew his actual identity, but also was alarming because if the Green Arrow wasn’t practically kidnapping him because he was The Flash, then why the hell was he kidnapping him?

When they arrived at the base, which Barry was shocked to see was established right under Oliver and his secret hideout, the Green Arrow gently set Barry down on a bed.

So of course, because Barry is a completely normal person that knows how to react when you get kidnapped by a villain and then it turns out that their base it right under your special childhood base, the first thing out of his mouth was, “Why do you have a bed in your secret base?”

The Green Arrow laughed. Fucking laughed. Chuckled. Made noises with his mouth that sounded like absolute heaven and, oh my god, all Barry could think about was how the Green Arrow’s laugh was really hot. “That’s because I sleep here a lot and sleeping on the floor is not a lot of fun.”

Okay, Barry thought, So not only was the Green Arrow being weird and laughing but he was also being nice? And not acting in a hostile way at all? Uhm? Hello?

Barry was going to ask the Green Arrow why he kidnapped him, but he was beat to that when the Green Arrow began to speak again.

“I know you probably have a lot of questions, but first I think there’s something that you need to know about me.” And then the Green Arrow pulled down his hood and peeled off his mask.

And oh. Oliver Queen was suddenly staring at Barry Allen and Barry’s world suddenly came crashing down because, Oh no it’s Ollie. Ollie’s the one I’ve been fighting all this time. Oh my god why am I fighting Ollie? Oh my god oh my god oh my god-

“I’m the Green Arrow.”

Yeah I can fucking tell. Barry bitterly thought.

Oliver paused for a few moments, probably to let Barry process everything that had just been revealed, and then he began to move on with his monologue. 

“So I know you’re probably really confused at the moment, but I swear I can explain. When you met me I was being trained to become a child soldier so that I could work with my parents. That’s why I came to your house with the bruises over my neck and everything. My parents work with Eobard Thawne, your know him as Harrison Wells, and they’re in an organization that’s dedicated to running experiments on unwilling test subjects, trying to ‘cure’ society, and they also kill anyone that opposes them. That’s why your mom was killed and your dad was framed for his murder, your parents had suspected that I was being abused and my parents didn’t want that, so they sent Eobard to deal with it.”

Barry was struggling to process all the information he was getting. Eobard Thawne had killed his mother? Eobard Thawne was Harrison Wells? Harrison Wells had killed his mother?

But Oliver continued, “I have a list of everyone under that organization and I’ve been working on punishing everyone on that list. My only problem is that I can’t get to Eobard because of The Flash. If I murdered him he’d know it was me and I know he’d stop at nothing before I was dealt with, but god I just can’t seem to defeat him. But you’re here because only a few hours ago I accidentally led The Flash near here and now I think he might know that you were involved with me. I don’t think he knows that I have my hideout under here though, so I thought that it would be better if I could keep you here so that you’re safe. Is that okay with you?”

So many thoughts were running through Barry’s head such as, Wait a minute Oliver isn’t the enemy, I’m the enemy, and so the first thing he blurts out in an attempt to respond to Oliver’s question is, “I’m The Flash.”

Confusion suddenly washes over Oliver’s face and in a disbelieving voice he spits out, “You? You’re The Flash?”

All Barry can do is nod and choke out, “I thought I was the good guy,” before promptly breaking out into tears.

It’s not everyday that you realize you’ve been fighting for the wrong side, and not only that but also that you’ve been fighting against your only best friend. 

Oliver walks over to where Barry’s crying on the bed and plops down next to him. He doesn’t say anything, but he does put an arm around Barry and allows him to sob out all his problems into his side. It isn’t long until Barry’s sobs drift away and sleep takes over him.

Oliver gently moves Barry so that he’s lying down on the bed and pulls a cover over him. Then he pulls out the sleeping bag he used to use and situates himself on the floor next to the bed.

\--

The next morning Barry and Oliver talk strategy. They spend almost the entire day going over plans to defeat Eobard Thawne once and for all. Everything should go very easily since Eobard doesn’t know that Barry knows he’s bad which means that Barry and Oliver have the element of surprise to their advantage.

Oliver introduces Barry to his two partners, his Cisco and Caitlin, Diggle and Felicity. They click together almost immediately and Barry thinks that if he introduced Caitlin and Cisco to them then they’d get along pretty well.

\--

Over the next few days the plan is carried out almost flawlessly. Everything goes as planned and Eobard Thawne is defeated, Cisco and Caitlin are introduced to “Team Arrow,” and Oliver is coming up with a new plan to get Barry’s dad out of prison.

All the excitement has washed over and Barry finally gets some time to just know Oliver and see how much he’s changed, and how much he hasn’t.

“Hey,” Barry greets, sitting down on the bed next to Oliver (it was the same bed Barry had been sat on when Oliver revealed everything to him).

“Hey, what have you been up to?” Oliver says back, his arm instinctively moving to wrap itself around Barry’s body.

“Nothing much. I’ve just been thinking a lot I guess,” Oliver hums in response, “Did you… Did you think about me a lot after you moved away?”

Oliver grabs Barry’s chin and moves his head so that they’re making eye contact. “Everyday.” 

Barry puts his hands on Oliver’s shoulders and retains eye contact as he speaks again, “Did you miss me too?”

“Of course.”

Barry moves closer to Oliver and his eyes glance down at his lips. “So if I told you that I really wanted to kiss you right now,” he moves even closer so that their lips are almost touching and he can feel Oliver’s breath against his face, “would you let me?”

Oliver doesn’t respond with words. Instead he responds by connecting the gap between him and Barry.

The next day Barry and Oliver have their first date, a picnic right above Oliver’s secret base, in the clearing where they used to play as children.

**Author's Note:**

> btw this was a valentine’s day gift to my beautiful girlfriend so ily b*tch and i aint ever gonna stop lovin you.... b*tch


End file.
